The Last Waltz (1978)

The greatest ever concert movie.The Band - Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson - were Bob Dylan's backing band in the 1960s before releasing their first album, Music from Big Pink, in 1968. In November 1976 they gave their last concert and decided to invite a few fiends to perform at it. What friends they were! Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Neil Diamond, Ringo Starr, Ronnie Hawkins, Paul Butterfield, Dr John, The Staple Sisters, Ron Wood, Muddy Waters. Incredible music, performed by extremely talented artists.To make things even better, the movie is directed by Martin Scorsese. He doesn't just include music, but also interviews with The Band. From this you understand their history, their motivations and why they stopped touring.Superb.

I had never seen this entire film, hailed by many as one of- if not the greatest- concert film of all time; but finally got to see in it's entirety here recently off Netflix. "The Last Waltz" was a concert by that Canadian rock group the Band, held on America's Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. It was advertised as the Band's "farewell concert appearance", and the concert saw the Band joined by more than a dozen special guests, including Paul Butterfield, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Ringo Starr, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood, Neil Diamond, Bobby Charles, The Staple Singers, Eric Clapton, as well as two artists the Band was actually the back-up band for at one time- Ronnie Hawkins, and later Bob Dylan. The event was filmed by director Martin Scorsese and made into a documentary released in 1978.I read all kinds of stories about the goings-on with this concert- the clashes between front men Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson, the legal issues that came up with Dylan's appearance in the film, and all that cocaine??!! LOL Apparently Neil Young's nose was covered in it in a shot, which was later edited out of the film-??? Director Scorsese even admitted he was a cocaine addict when he shot this film. And just a heads-up: apparently this movie is now streaming on Netflix and there have been some issues with the audio during the interview scenes between the performances. I heard this may have had something to do with some legal issues, but not sure-??-and not sure if the problem has been fixed as of yet. No matter- see this for the great musical performances- a once-in-your-lifetime event!...

Back in the late Sixties/early Seventies, a friend of mine introduced me to a disparate range of musical performers, stuff I would never have discovered on my own, but he persisted in having me borrow his albums and I came to appreciate various artists and styles. Stuff like Ten Years After, Canned Heat, King Crimson, Muddy Waters and the list goes on. One of them was The Band, a group I immediately took a liking to with their albums Music From Big Pink, The Band and Stage Fright."The Last Waltz" chronicles The Band's final concert appearance at San Francisco's Winterland Theater on Thanksgiving Day, 1976. There's probably no better venue for assembling some of the best musicians in the world in one place at one time, and music fans who weren't even born yet will appreciate the performances here from the likes of Ronnie Hawkins, Joni Mitchell, Paul Butterfield, and Bob Dylan. My favorite number was probably Neil Young joining The Band with a soulful rendition of 'Helpless', while Muddy Waters kicks out those blues jams with 'Ain't That a Man'. One of the surprising numbers comes from someone you wouldn't expect to see here, with Neil Diamond offering up a passionate version of 'Dry Your Eyes'.Intersperesed with quickie interview segments, the film captures the emotional exhaustion of The Band's members as they come up on sixteen years of musical touring. I guess for them it was time to move on, even though a group like the Stones has more than doubled that tenure since this film came out. 1976, it seems so long ago.As I write this, Levon Helm passed on a couple of months ago. Watching him as a vibrant and energized performer in this documentary was in sharp contrast to a concert appearance I saw him in just last year performing with his own band. On that night he didn't even sing because he was recuperating from an illness. It's sad to see these legends pass on, but having these moments captured on film and recordings allow us to relive their glory days any time we like. If you haven't seen "The Last Waltz" yet, it's time that you do. If you have, watch it again.

Back before disco, back before punk, back before MTV, music didn't suck. At least not like it does today. Youngsters who cut their teeth on Britney Spears wouldn't know a good tune if it jumped out and clubbed them on their heads. I know I sound like an old geezer, but bear with me. The Band was one of my two favorite rock 'n' roll groups of all time (the other is the Doors) and their farewell concert, staged at San Francisco's Winterland on Thanksgiving, 1976, may well have been the definitive moment of rock 'n' roll history, much more than Woodstock, Altamount, or even Elvis's first appearance on Ed Sullivan. Probably no musicians in history received as much hatred as The Band, who became a lightning rod for folk music purists who blamed them for Bob Dylan's defection. By 1976, however, the early 60s folk revival was little more than a footnote in music history. Although Dylan's set closed the show, he and The Band shared the spotlight with a veritable Who's Who of music greats: Neil Young, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Doctor John, Neil Diamond (I normally cannot stand him--I loved his set here!), Muddy Waters, and the man who gave The Band their start, rockabilly great Ronnie Hawkins (The Band started out as the Hawks). The film contains several musical highlights not part of the actual concert, which were filmed on a soundstage later (Emmylou Harris, the Staple Family). Director Martin Scorcese's backstage interviews are humorous and nostalgic but leave unsaid the friction and inner turmoil that led to The Band's break-up. This is a great film with great music. What more needs to be said?